Tag Archives: charles bronson

YouTubery Friday: Celebrity Endorsements

It’s Friday! Procrastinate and count down to happy hour with these lovely bits!

On this week’s edition of The Best Show on WFMU, host Tom Scharpling asked listeners to share their favorite/least favorite celebrity commercials. A few gems were uncovered, which I’d like to share with you in the spirit of friendship and brotherhood and mockery.

First up, a Japanese ad for a cologne called Mandom, featuring that pinnacle of mandom, Charles Bronson. How manly is Chuck? He smokes a pipe shirtless, for one thing. He also fantasizes about himself as a cowboy as he literally pours cologne on himself. Who’s gonna tell Charles Bronson he’s wearing enough cologne to make a sasquatch tear up? I sure as hell ain’t.

Here’s an ad for a local cardiologist in Encino, California, starring M*A*S*H‘s Jamie Farr and a strangely bearded Alex Rocco. The hirsute Mr. Rocco does not get his eye shot out in this scene, as he did as Moe Green in The Godfather Part II, but he did go through the trouble of getting really drunk before the shoot. And you’ll never guess the twist ending to this ad! (Here’s a hint: You’ll totally guess it.)

Speaking of which, here’s some outtakes from an ad shoot for Paul Masson Wine starring legendary actor/director Orson Welles. Paul Masson would sell no wine before its time, but they would film ads before their enormous spokesman could sober up. Almost as funny as Welles’ pickled reactions are the tortured expressions of the two party-goers to his right.

And what roundup of celebrity endorsements would be complete without Macho Man Randy Savage and his legendary spots for Slim Jim? Thrill as The Macho Man destroys a library and shames an authority figure with the power of smoked meats!

BONUS!: Peep this “interview” with Macho Man Randy Savage from oh, let’s say the 80s cuz why not? Even by Macho Man standards, this interview is a little manic. Something extra seems at play. I don’t know for sure, but I’ll bet that something extra came from Bolivia.